DREAM Project Brings Inclusion and Movement to Life at Dance Camp in NYC

Last month, the DREAM (Dancers Realize Excellence Through Arts and Movement) Project - led by Agnes McConlogue Ferro - brought inclusion, movement, and community to life at the National Dance Institute (NDI) Jacques d'Amboise Center for Learning and the Arts in Harlem, New York City.

The program united more than 70 children from across the tri-state area for two full sessions of dance, collaboration, and creative joy, culminating in two inspiring performances.

Children with and without disabilities - including those with Trisomy 21, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, and rare genetic conditions - danced side by side with age-matched peers. Supported by a remarkable DREAM team of gifted musicians, teaching artists, choreographers, and program staff, the experience emphasized not only movement but participation across social, emotional, and behavioral domains.

"I stand in awe of everyone involved with this program, especially the children and their families and caregivers," said Ferro, a board certified pediatric clinical specialist and clinical associate professor in the School of Health Professions Department of Physical Therapy. "I won't ever be able to express how incredible it is to watch each child achieve the unexpected, perform so beautifully, 'learn each other' so quickly … and genuinely support each other with a level of caring that takes my breath away."

Physical therapy students played a vital role in the program, helping scaffold movement and partnership in ways that empowered both dancers with disabilities and their peers to grow together. As trust developed, support shifted naturally from student-led assistance to shared partnership, modeling true inclusion in action. The experience also offered PT students hands-on learning opportunities rarely available elsewhere, especially for those without formal dance backgrounds.

The impact of DREAM was reflected in alumni involvement as well, with 2024 graduate Ashley Pav returning as a volunteer alongside a child she currently works with, traveling daily from the Stony Brook area to participate. Her continued commitment speaks to the lasting influence of the program.

The final performances radiated courage, confidence, and heart, drawing enthusiastic applause from an audience of family, friends, and supporters. The program was also honored by the presence of seven members of Stony Brook's LEND program and School of Health Professions dean Stacy Jaffee Gropack.

Ferro said the children were in front of an audience and performing by the 11th hour of the camp. "Children were helping their partners through all of it with genuine understanding, care and pride in and for each other. I said a long time ago that it is a world that creates itself… and that hasn't changed in the 12 years that we have been doing DREAM," she added. "I think it will only keep getting better as we learn more and as the children and PT students take this experience beyond the studio walls and back to their own lives. We are all better for it."

In 1998, Ferro began a collaboration with the National Dance Institute by starting an inclusionary dance program in a NYC public school. Her relationship has continued with NDI as the co-creator and director of the DREAM Project. Stony Brook University DPT students volunteer during the DREAM project's week-long camp, offered annually in Harlem every February and August. DREAM will return for its next camp in Harlem August 10-14, continuing its mission of inclusive dance and shared joy.